Chronic neutrophilic leukemia--report of a case and review of the literature.

A male patient, aged 78, was found with chronic neutrophilic leukemia (CNL). The patient showed sustained mature neutrophilic leukocytosis, splenomegaly, a high leukocyte alkaline phosphatase score, elevated serum vitamin B12 and uric acid, myeloid hyperplasia and absence of ph' chromosome in the bone marrow, with no evidence suggesting this condition to be a leukemoid reaction to an underlying disease. In addition to the above mentioned features, some functional characteristics of CNL cells were compared with normal cells. CNL is a very rare disease; some thought it as a variant of chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). In this report a review of the literature is also included.